Method and apparatus for multiple agent commitment tracking and notification

ABSTRACT

A system for tracking client contacts for a host organization utilizes a multimedia database and a user interface at a connected computer device. The database stores client communications as full content, and relates contacts by issue, and the user interface displays client contact communications as objects, such as icons, in issue related chronological strings. In a preferred embodiment the interface also provides an input facility for a host agent to select appropriate responses to client communications, to make commitments for response, to assign responsibility for commitments, and to notify personnel affected by entered commitments in various ways, such as reminders. Other notifications include fulfilled and unfulfilled commitments.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS

The present application is a continuation of patent application Ser. No.11/456,333, filed on Jul. 10, 2006, which is a continuation of patentapplication 10/425,774, filed on Apr. 28, 2003 and issued as U.S. Pat.No. 7,076,499 on Jul. 11, 2006, which is a continuation of patentapplication Ser. No. 09/537,857, filed on Mar. 28, 2000 now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 6,557,003 on Apr. 29, 2003, which is a divisional patentapplication of patent application Ser. No. 09/071,467, filed Apr. 30,1998 now issued as Pat. No. 6,044,368 on Mar. 28, 2000. The disclosuresof prior applications are incorporated herein in their entirety byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is in the field of multimedia communicationsincluding conventional telephony and Data Network Telephony (DNT), andpertains more particularly to methods and apparatus for tracking orderof communications related to specific issues, including commitments madeand fulfillment of the commitments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Large organizations increasingly rely on communication centers known ascall centers for dealing with clients and customers. Such call centershandle and distribute conventional telephone calls to agents accordingto various business plans, in many instances are adapted as multimediacenters to handle communication of many sorts, such as e-mail, voicemail, data network telephony (DNT) such as Internet phone calls,conventional phone calls, and the like. The same organizationsincreasingly rely on digital-network communication technologies toenhance and expedite communication both internally and externally. Moreand more companies are linking to digital communication networks becausesuch networks enhance an organization's ability to operate more quicklyand efficiently. Such networks, weather local area networks (LAN) orwide area networks (WAN), or both, link company executives, agents,service representatives, and the like to each other and to the outsideworld through their computerized workstations. Such individuals that arelinked via digital network may practice many different forms ofcommunication over the networks. E-mail, fax, video phone, data phone,video mail, and other forms of digital communication are possible.

Of particular interest for the purpose of the present patent applicationis communication between large organizations and clients of thoseorganizations, for example companies selling technically sophisticatedproducts, and customers of such companies.

Successful communication between clients or customers and corporaterepresentatives (agents) of a large organization is paramount to thewell being of such an organization. For example, business contactinformation must be recorded and made accessible to agents. Customerinformation must be continually updated and stored for furtherreference. In a large organization it is often critical that allimportant communication events be made of record so that importantinformation is not lost, and records of communication can be retrievedfor many purposes. It is well understood that improved communicationcapabilities enhance a company's efficiency and profitability.

Due to large volume of communication events typically experienced byindividuals who are selling to or servicing customers or clients of alarge company, and the need to make record of such communication events,many companies have implemented what is known as contact managementsoftware. Contact management software allows sales/service agents andthe like to efficiently store important information regarding contactsin a database for later review. Pertinent information may be enteredinto a contact management system and may be retrieved later at computerspeeds thereby enabling an agent to increase efficiency related to hisassigned tasks.

Contact management software typically combines functions from a wordprocessor, a communications package, a calendar/scheduling program, anda database manager to manage information associated with day to daybusiness. This functionality provides such capabilities as retrieving aday's or week's appointments, retrieving a client call-back list,updated reports on client activity, reminders concerning pending tasks,and so on. Customized versions of standard business letters may begenerated for new clients, as well as a host of other types of taskswherein merging and linking of different information is required.

There are several different versions of contact management softwarecommercially available today that are tailored to different needs.Generally speaking, much training is required in the use of computercommands, input parameters and the like before an agent becomesproficient with such an application.

A neglected need in contact management has to do with commitments andfulfillment of commitments. Often, an agent or service representativemakes a verbal or written commitment to a customer, client, or associateon behalf of himself or on behalf of another agent or service employee.In some large companies, this may be routine with numerous commitmentsmade each day by numerous agents. It is, of course, desirable that theagent that made such commitments be able to fulfill them in a timelyfashion. Failure to do so can erode a company's reputation. In a casewherein an agent makes a verbal commitment on behalf of another agent,then it is important that the fulfilling agent be notified in a timelymanner. In a very fast-paced environment, it is extremely difficult toinsure that verbal commitments to clients and the like are kept, or totrack such commitments and ensure that appropriate action is taken.Often the agent who makes a commitment forgets the details of thecommitment, or forgets to notify the appropriate agent on whose behalfthe commitment was made.

A problem with conventional contact management software is that it doesnot appropriately address the issue of tracking client-specific andissue specific commitments and assigning them to appropriate agents withsuitable notification and tracking. Notification events are typicallylimited to scheduled meetings, appointments, important time-sensitivetasks, and so on. Furthermore, present-art contact managementapplications do not have the capability of notifying agents overmultiple media types such as E-mail, Voice mail and the like. Generally,the agent must access the contact management system to retrieve anyinformation and generally, the accessed information is only accurate tothe extent of the agent's original entry.

What is clearly needed is a method and apparatus for tracking contactsin an issue-specific manner, with facility for recording and storingcommitments made by agents to clients, business contacts, or associateson their own behalf or on behalf of other agents, and then notifying allagents concerned before such time the commitment is to be fulfilled.Such a method and apparatus would significantly improve companycommunication both internally and externally thereby increasingefficiency and credibility.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in a networkedcommunication system, a method for recording and tracking clientcontacts on behalf of a host organization is provided, comprising stepsof (a) storing the full content of communications to and from clients asentities in a multimedia database; (b) relating entities in the databaseby issue; and (c) displaying an object-oriented interface on a videodisplay of the PC workstation, the interface characterized in thatdatabase entities may be recalled and displayed as objects inissue-related chronological strings. Full content of an entity displayedas an object may be reviewed through selecting the entity object in thedisplay. Entities may include one or more of scanned documentsdisplayable as text, e-mailed documents displayable as text, facsimiledocuments displayable as text, and recorded conversations reviewable asreplayed audio from a digitally-stored entity, and essentially any othersort of storable contact communication.

In a further embodiment a step (d) is provided for initiating a responseto a communication by a client by selecting an object in a responsewindow in the interface, selectable objects including at least e-mail,voice message, facsimile, and a letter document. This step may furthercomprise recording a commitment related to the response selected, thecommitment including identity of one or more persons assigned tofulfilling the commitment and a due time assignment for the commitment.Further the step may include notifying persons effected by commitmentsmade one or more times before the commitment due time. Notifications mayalso be made relative to commitments met and fulfilled, and commitmentsnot met and fulfilled.

In another aspect a system for recording and tracking client contacts onbehalf of a host organization is provided, comprising a multimediadatabase adapted for storing the full content of communications to andfrom clients as database entities, the entities related in the databaseby issue; and an object-oriented interface on a video display of a PCworkstation coupled to the multimedia database, the interfacecharacterized in that database entities may be recalled and displayed asobjects in issue-related chronological strings. Full content of anentity displayed as an object may be reviewed through selecting theentity object in the display. The entities may include one or more ofscanned documents displayable as text, e-mailed documents displayable astext, facsimile documents displayable as text, and recordedconversations reviewable as replayed audio from a digitally-storedentity.

In an important aspect of the invention the interface further comprisesa response window having selectable objects representing responsechoices, wherein a user may select an object to initiate a response to aclient communication. Such response choices include at least e-mail,voice message, facsimile, and letter documents. There may also be acommitment function associated with the response window, wherein a usermay enter a commitment related to the response selected, the commitmentincluding identity of one or more persons assigned to fulfilling thecommitment and a due time assignment for the commitment. In this aspecta commitment made associated with a response is recorded in thedatabase, and the database notifies one or more persons associated withthe commitment before the commitment due time. The database may alsonotify one or more persons including the person making the commitment,when the commitment is met and closed, and may notify one or morepersons if the commitment is not met and closed.

In yet another aspect a multimedia call center is provided, comprising aplurality of agent stations, individual ones having a multimedia-capablepersonal computer with a video display unit (PC/VDU), and adapted fordata network telephony (DNT); a local area network (LAN) connectingagent stations in the call center and connecting agent stations to oneor more communication networks; and a multimedia database connected onthe LAN. The database is adapted to store the full content ofcommunications to and from clients as database entities, the entitiesrelated in the database by issue, and to display at individual PC/VDUsan object-oriented interface, the interface characterized in thatdatabase entities may be recalled and displayed as objects inissue-related chronological strings. Further the database may exhibitall of the features attributed above to the system of the invention.

In various embodiments it will be clear, given the descriptions providedbelow in enabling detail, that the system of the invention provides anapparatus and a method for recording and tracking commitments made inbusiness transactions in a manner that enhances the probability thatsuch commitments will be kept and fulfilled, and also provides anapparatus and method for dealing with clients in a professional mannerhaving at hand the maximum available information, this being thefull-content entities available from the multimedia database.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an overview of a call-center environment wherein commitmenttracking and notification is practiced according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary agent interface of the commitment tracking andnotification system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a work flow diagram illustrating basic steps of the commitmenttracking and notification software according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is an overview of a typical call-center environment whereincommitment tracking and notification is practiced according to anembodiment of the present invention. A telephony-network architecture 11comprises a company call center 17 that is linked to, in this example,both a publicly switched telephone network (PSTN) 13, and a wide areadigital network (WAN) 15, which may be the public Internet or otherdigital network. In this particular embodiment call center 17 handlesboth conventional telephone calls, which may be categorized asconnection-oriented, switched telephony (COST) calls, and data networktelephony (DNT) calls, which may be DNT calls over a private digitalnetwork or calls according to a protocol such as the well-known Internetprotocol. DNT calls are characterized in that data is transmitted asaddressed data packets as opposed to dedicated connections in COSTcalls. As indicated, PSTN 13 may be a private rather than a public COSTnetwork. WAN 15 may be a company Intranet, the Internet, or another typeof WAN known in the art.

Incoming COST calls arrive at a representative network-level telephonyswitching apparatus 19 in network cloud 13 and are connected over trunk23 to a central telephony switching apparatus 27 within call center 17.From switching apparatus 27, calls are routed according to existingrouting rules over internal wiring 56 to agents' telephones 47, 49, 51,and 53 residing at agents' workstations 31, 33, 35, and 37 respectively.Other equipment generally associated with computer integrated telephony(CIT) networks such as CIT processors, routers, and the like are notshown here, but are assumed to be present in this embodiment, and may beconnected to switching apparatus 27 and/or to a local area network 55 atthe call center.

Incoming DNT calls, and other communication events such as E-mail, Voicemail and the like, arrive at a representative routing node 21 in WAN 15and are passed on over representative digital connection 25 to routingnode 29 within call center 17. Once calls arrive at node 29, they arerouted over LAN 55 according to existing routing rules to personalcomputer/video display units (PC/VDU) such as PC/VDU 39, 41, 43, or 45located at agent's workstations 31, 33, 35, and 37 respectively.

In the exemplary system and call center shown, the equipment andapplications are adapted to provide for multimedia operation at each ofthe agent stations, so the agents can interact with clients in manydifferent ways, as are known in the multimedia arts.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each PC/VDU such asPC/VDU 39 residing in agent's workstation 31 is adapted to execute aninstance of a contact tracking and notification application includingcommitment tracking according to an embodiment of the present invention.This application acts to enable an agent to track multimediacommunication strings according to chronology, problems, issues, and/orother criteria, and enables an agent to enter relevant data during orimmediately after a call or other communication event, and at othertimes as necessary. Pertinent data relating to transactions is enteredin this example into multimedia information system (MIS) 57 (including amultimedia database) which is connected to LAN 55. For example, a lettermay be scanned into MIS 57 or a fax, E-mail, word document, voicetransaction, etc. may be mirrored into the database via methods known inthe art. The client application also provides a response option box thatis tailored to standard company-offered responses. By providing for themanipulation of standardized icons representing responses, the clientinterface is user-friendly allowing an agent to double click an icon forentering a response into the system. In some embodiments, however, typedcommands may also be used in combination with icons or alone. Responsesto communication events may either be commitments made in prior eventsor simply requested actions by the customer. Further detail of thesefunctions is provided below.

A unique feature of the communication software in embodiments of thepresent invention is that it can automatically send time-sensitivenotification of pending commitments to pertinent people connected insome manner to the database. For example, if a specific agent makes acommitment, notification can be made prior to a committed date and timeto the agent who made the commitment, to an agent on who's behalf thecommitment was made, to selected supervisors and auditors, to repairpeople, technicians and the like who may be involved, and more. Further,if a first agent who made the commitment is not available, then theapplication can look for a next best agent, based on skill set, that canfulfill the commitment.

Another important and unique feature of the commitment tracking andnotification software in embodiments of the present invention is thatmultimedia interfacing is possible. For example, E-mail, Fax, I-phone,Voice mail and other media may be used by the tracking and notificationsoftware to send notifications to agents as long as their parameters areavailable to the system and the system has access to internal dialingfunctions, E-mail capabilities, and so on.

In the example provided herein a parent application resides and executeswithin MIS 57, and organizes and stores communication events. Events canbe sorted, stored, and presented in a variety of ways. For example, inone embodiment communication history may be presented in a string orthread (order) that is unique to a particular customer. The customer maybe a business comprising several different contacts, or may be anindividual entity such as a buyer or seller. Internal entities such ashigh-level executives, project managers, and the like may also beentered into the database and have unique threads assigned to them. Inthis way correspondence and commitments both internal and external maybe handled by the system. In another unique technique, communicationevents are presented in a string according to a particular problem orissue. For example, a representative of one company may call in with aproblem. If this is the first call (introduction) of the problem(issue), an agent may assign an identifier to the problem or issue.Subsequent communication events and commitments relative to the sameproblem or issue may then be audited, tracked, and displayed, andnotifications may be made, sorted by this particular problem or issue.More detail about the unique operation of the commitment tracking andnotification software is provided below.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating operation of the commitmenttracking and notification system of a host organization according to anembodiment of the present invention. A client 59 of the host, in thisexample, AA Steel, has legitimate contact personnel X, Y, and Z listedas persons within AA Steel who are authorized to interact with the hostorganization. All information pertinent to doing business with customer59 is entered into the multimedia database of the commitment trackingand notification software such as contact names, telephone numbers, faxnumbers, E-mail addresses, shipping information, and so on.

As agents of the host at the call center interact with personnel ofcustomer 59, communication events are entered into the database andorganized by issue. All communication events that are related to aparticular issue are assigned a thread that is unique to that issue. Itwill be apparent to those with skill in that art that such identifierscan be applied by flagging techniques and the like. For example, issue Iis a thread connecting three communication events A, B, and C. All threeevents A, B, and C are about issue I which could be any issue rangingfrom a simple sales order to a complex engineering project. Becauseissues may be simple or complex as described above, the number ofrelated communication events may vary accordingly.

An issue such as issue I is unresolved until all commitments maderegarding issue I are fulfilled. Issue I is resolved for the present,but may have communication events and further commitments added on iffor some reason the customer has additional requirements related to thatsame issue. It will be apparent to those with skill in the art thatthere is a broad choice for organization by issue, and clearly an issuemust be named and assigned at an early stage in communication socontacts may be recorded by issue.

Referring again to FIG. 2, issue I shows a first communication event Abeing a letter received from contact Y, a second communication event Bas a call placed to contact Y, and a third communication event C whereina fax was sent to contact Y. Issue I is shown to have beensatisfactorily resolved as represented by End Block D.

For example purposes event A may be a letter requesting a price quotefor a certain product at various quantity levels. The letter was scannedand entered into the multimedia database of MIS 57 of FIG. 1. Event B isfor example a response call verbally quoting the prices requested bycontact Y in event A. During event B, an agent made a commitment tocontact Y to fax a formal response containing a written quote. Call B isrecorded digitally and entered into the database, connected by the issuestring to event A. When the commitment was made, although not shown inthe event string, the communication application of the invention allowed(and required) the agent making the commitment to enter the commitment,which was recorded as related to event B. At some point prior to event Cthe system notified the agent to compose and send the fax, which isEvent C, as the formal fax response to the commitment made to contact Yin event B. When the fax was sent it was copied to the database in MIS57 as event C. After the fax is sent, the agent elects to close theissue and the system reports that issue I is resolved as represented byEnd block D.

In the example shown, event strings may be selectively presented in theinterface. That is, an agent may call up one issue for further action,or several issue, or may review all issues relative to a particularcompany. The nature of the multimedia database allows all communicationsto be recorded and reviewed by any agent or person with access. In anongoing contact relative to Issue I, for example, an agent involved incall Y may double-click the icon representing the originating letter(event (A), and review the letter. Similarly, calls may be played back,e-mails reviewed, other letters perused and the like. This featureallows an agent and a client in contact to review and verify problems,opinions, promises, and the like, to better resolve and guide ongoingproblem resolution, and to provide a complete audit trail of allcontacts with clients for any purpose. In certain embodiments overallediting and purging capabilities are provided with suitable security andbackup features, so the database can be suitably managed over timerelative to old information and the like.

Communication events A, B, and C in the string representing Issue Irepresent actual events that have taken place. As an event may be afulfillment of a commitment promised in a prior event, notificationevents (not recorded in this embodiment) would occur at scheduled timeintervals between communication events. For example, during event B, anagent promised to send a fax response containing a formal price quote tocontact Y. Perhaps, a time window of 24 hours was agreed upon betweenthe agent and the client representative for formulating and sending thefax response. When the agent enters the proposed response as acommitment, by a feature of the invention described more fully below,the system records the commitment, and notifies the agent perhaps twohours before the commitment is due, and the nature of the commitment.

In alternative embodiments commitments may be made on a basis other thantime, such as by availability, for example. A customer might desire tobe notified when a new model of a product becomes available for sale. Anagent makes such a commitment and enters the commitment I the databasesystem. When information in the system indicates the new model isavailable for sale, the system will then notify appropriate personnel tonotify the customer(s) and fulfill the commitment.

In the instant case relative to FIG. 2, a fax giving a price quote for aparticular product in different quantities is required. This is thecommitment made, with a time of 24 hours. It may be that the agentinvolved in call Y is not authorized to make such quotes, but anotheragent is. The commitment is then made for the authorized agent, who isthen notified by the system that such a commitment has been made, andthe agent to make the response is again notified as the time allottednears expiration. Those with skill in the art will recognize that thisexemplary situation is but one of many possibilities. Repair andtroubleshooting visits to clients premises may, for example, bescheduled in this manner for repair technicians and the like. Virtuallyany sort of commitment and notification is possible, time-based,availability-based, or based on any other suitable criteria, accordingto business plans formulated and entered into the communicationapplication according to communication facilities connecting thepersonnel of the host organization.

In the event a client contacts an agent about an ongoing issue, but doesnot have the reference number previously assigned to the particularissue, a search facility is provided so the agent may discover thecorrect string where new interaction is needed.

Referring now again to FIG. 2, an issue II has been created and a firstcommunication event E concluded wherein a fax has been received fromcontact X of customer 59. The agent mirrored the faxed document, alreadyin digital form, into the database thereby recording event E as shown,which the system displays as a fax icon. In various embodiments internalroutines are employed to translate as needed between data protocols, andtechniques such as text-to speech, character recognition, and the likemay be employed. The agent then places a call to contact X in responseto the faxed request. The agent mirrors the digital record of the callinto the database creating event F. At a later time, a live call 61 isreceived from contact X regarding issue II. During call 61, the agenthas opened a commitment interface 63, providing options for commitmentand response. In one embodiment wherein multimedia events are receivedsuch as E-mail, DNT calls, faxes and the like, mirroring into thedatabase may be automatic requiring no input from the agent.

Within client interface 63 there are several icons representingdifferent response options. In this example there are six options: acall icon, a fax icon, a letter icon, a tech dispatch icon, an E-mailicon, and an appointment icon. The number of options for response islimited only by the capabilities and offered services of theorganization. For example, icons representing multimedia communicationindicate such capability attributed to the call center. Iconsrepresenting appointments or tech dispatches and the like may be linkedto communication terminals at the effected departments for notification.To further illustrate, if call 61 is, for example, requesting atechnician to come out to a job site, then the agent may double click onthe tech icon opening up a list of current technicians on duty and theirwork loads. If a particular technician is free during the time requestedby contact x, then the agent may select that technician, who will thenbe notified by the system of the commitment for scheduling purposes, andwill again be reminded of the commitment before the due date and time,in sufficient time to allow a reasonable response.

The commitment tracking and notification software in combination withthe appropriate hardware and additional software programs such as modemsoftware, status reporting software, routing software, and the like canprovide timed notification to third party personnel and track theirperformances.

Business routing rules could be applied to notification of commitmentssuch that if a target agent is not available to fulfill a particularcommitment, a next available agent (based on skill level) may be givennotification to takeover the commitment. Commitment notifications mayalso be sent to more than one individual such as a list of involvedpersons. Perhaps supervisors could receive notification of thecommitments made by their subordinates for performance evaluationpurposes and so on.

It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that the commitmenttracking and notification software may be tailored to many differentenvironments such as sales, service, large engineering projects, etc. Ina preferred embodiment the system is provided with an interface in amanner that a representative of the provider of the system may, inconsultation with the potential user, may add or activate exactly thosefeatures needed by the user.

The multimedia capability of the software allows agents to eliminatetime consuming data entry by simply mirroring fax documents, voicefiles, word documents, and the like into the database.

FIG. 3 is a work flow diagram illustrating basic steps of the commitmenttracking and notification software according to an embodiment of thepresent invention wherein an incoming communication event 65 begins theprocess. In step 67 the agent opens his client interface either duringor immediately after discerning communication event 65. In many casesthe client interface will already be open, or is always open.Communication event 65 may be a telephone call, a letter, a DNT call, afax, an E-mail, or any other type of supported media as previouslydescribed. In step 69, the agent uses the client interface to access themultimedia database and locate the issue thread associated with event65.

As previously described, event 65 may be a first communication regardinga new issue in which case a new identifier will be given to the contact,or event 65 may be an ongoing contact in an existing issue string. Ifevent 65 is part of a resolved issue, it may be added on to the threadof the resolved issue, and the old issue may be resurrected. If theevent is the next communication regarding an unresolved issue, it isadded on as the next communication. If the contact does not know orremember the reference number assigned to the issue of event 65, thenthe agent may search for the issue via a search engine by entering anassociated word string, and the like.

Referring again to FIG. 3, the agent enters event 65 into the multimediadatabase in step 71. This step may involve scanning in a letter,mirroring a fax or word document to the database, mirroring a voice fileor digital phone record into the database, and so on. Because multimediais supported by the commitment tracking and notification software, entryof communication events is much easier than would be the case withcurrent art contact management software.

In step 73, the agent selects a response option based on a request byevent 65 or based on a commitment made to the contact during event 65.For example, if event 65 was a letter requesting a fax back, then theagent would select a fax response. If event 65 was a call requesting atechnician to be dispatched to a work site, then the agent selects atech dispatch option and so on.

Once a response option is selected in step 73, an option is thenpresented to the agent in step 75 for entering notification parametersof the commitment and other associated parameters. For example, a dialogbox containing notification parameters is presented so that the agentmay assign the commitment and provide the suitable constraints, such astime or availability, for notification to the fulfilling party. In step75, the agent may assign the commitment to himself or to other partiesdepending upon the type of commitment. In some cases, a simple faxresponse may suffice and the agent has the option of sending the fax nowwith no latter notification, or sending the fax at a later scheduledtime and be notified prior to the scheduled event. In other cases,several individuals may be required to fill a commitment such asconvening at a project site for a scheduled presentation by the contact.The possibilities are essentially unlimited.

After all of the necessary parameters are entered in step 75, the systemnotifies the party or parties assigned to the commitment, and again at asuitable time before the actual deadline of the commitment in step 77.This process is unique in that it takes into account known states ofparticipating individuals making up a dynamic work force. For example,at the time of notification, one or more of the notified parties may notbe available to fulfill the commitment promised to the contact. Thereason may be that the agent is out of the area or that a designatedperson(s) are engaged in a priority situation overriding the priorcommitment. By utilizing known information such as current skill levelsand operational states of individuals that are logged on to the system,the system can reassign the commitment to a next best person(s) able tofulfill the commitment. Notification is then sent to the new designatedindividuals.

By linking the system to internal telephone networks, E-mail systems,and perhaps even wireless systems such as beeper systems or mobileunits, the commitment and tracking software can send notification overany media type. This unique feature makes the system particularly usefulwhere dispatching of mobile units is practiced such as with largeconstruction projects and the like. A technician in the field mayreceive suitable notification for all of his scheduled stops.

Once a commitment has been fulfilled, the completed task must be enteredinto the database in step 79 so that the system may report the issueresolved in step 81. A fulfilled commitment may be a fax, or E-mailresponse, or some other final communication event. In this case, it isentered as a communication event on the issue thread and then the threadis closed by the individual fulfilling the final commitment or by theagent who initiated the commitment. In the event that the finalcommitment is a tech visit on site or the like, then the tech reportswhen the task is completed and a supervisor or individual charged withreviewing the technicians activities may enter a comment and close thethread. If the issue is subsequently called up for review, the systemwill report the issue resolved in step 81 as previously described.

In preferred embodiments the system of the invention is made adaptive,with overall tracking of data relative to commitments made, commitmentsfulfilled, notifications made, and the like. Success goals and ratiosmay be set by supervisors and administrators, related to notificationlevels and the like. For example, a commitment fulfillment threshold maybe set such that, as long as the threshold is met, notification ofunfulfilled commitments is only made to original committing agents andassociated persons. If the threshold is not met by a first margin,supervisors are notified at a higher level. If performance deterioratesfurther, higher levels of management are notified and more stridentalarms are sounded. In some embodiments, with deteriorating success offulfillment, higher level notification of new commitments is also made,and more comprehensive and critical paths for tracking are automaticallyinstituted. Such features are also provided in a modular manner soapplications can be tailored to the needs of users of systems accordingto embodiments of the present invention.

It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that the method andapparatus of the present invention may be applied to any type of digitalnetwork-architecture such as LAN, WAN, wireless networks, etc. It willalso be apparent to one with skill in the art that the system may beused with internal and external communications covering companyprojects, outside sales, dispatched technical teams, inventoryoperations and so on.

It will also be apparent to one with skill in the art that thecommitment tracking and notification software may be integrated withrouting software routines so that the system may reassign commitments tonext best individuals who are known by the system to posses the requiredskill level to fulfill the commitment and are available at the time thecommitment is to be filled. Furthermore, by tracking the nature andfrequency of specific commitments to certain contacts over a period oftime, a predictive notification process may be developed so that anagent may be alerted to a strong possibility of a pending request by thecustomer.

In one embodiment, data representing old business conducted before aspecific period may be removed to archive on another storage device inorder to save system memory. Also, the system may be scaled up by addingmore memory for function and storage. There are many possibleembodiments of which many have been noted. The present invention islimited only by the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for managing commitments, comprising:identifying, by a processor, a first communication between a customerand a first contact center resource; generating, by the processor, afirst object for storing data related to the first communication;storing, by the processor, the first object in a database in associationwith an issue, wherein the issue has at least an identifier, and theissue is one from among a plurality of issues associated with thecustomer; identifying, by the processor, a second communicationassociated with the customer; routing, by the processor, the secondcommunication to a second contact center resource; determining, by theprocessor, that the second communication is related to the issue; inresponse to the determining, displaying by the processor, on a graphicaluser interface associated with the second contact center resource, agraphical representation of the first object stored in association withthe issue; receiving, by the processor, via the graphical userinterface, user selection of the first object; in response to the userselection, outputting, by the processor, the data stored in associationwith the first object, wherein the data includes a copy of at least aportion of substance of communication exchanged during the firstcommunication; generating a second object for storing data relating tothe second communication; storing, by the processor, the second objectin the database in association with the issue; assigning, by theprocessor, a commitment made during the second communication, to a firstagent, the commitment being one among a plurality of commitmentsassociated with the issue; detecting, by the processor, unavailabilityof the first agent to fulfill the commitment; in response to detectingthe unavailability of the first agent, assigning, by the processor, thecommitment to a second agent identified as being available and having askill level for fulfilling the commitment; monitoring, by the processor,fulfillment of the commitment; receiving, by the processor, status ofthe commitment, the status being indicative of fulfillment of thecommitment; and in response to determining that no other commitments ofthe plurality of commitments associated with the issue remain to befulfilled, storing in the database for the issue, an indicator forindicating that the issue is resolved.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe commitment is a commitment to take action made to the customerduring the second communication.
 3. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising transmitting, by the processor, notification to a thirdcontact center resource to fulfill the commitment.
 4. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising assigning the commitment, by the processor,to a third contact center resource, based at least one of a skill levelof the third contact center resource or operational state of the thirdcontact resource.
 5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:receiving, by the processor, information on a target resource specifiedby the second contact center resource for receiving the commitment;identifying, by the processor, a particular state of the specifiedtarget resource; and assigning, by the processor the commitment to athird contact center resource instead of the specified target resourcein response to identifying the particular state.
 6. The method of claim5, wherein the third contact center resource is identified based onskill and availability of the second contact center resource.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first communication utilizes a first typeof media and the second communication utilizes a second type of mediadifferent from the first type of media.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the data output by the processor in response to the userselection is one of an audio recording of the first communication, ortext exchanged during the first communication.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the identifier for the issue includes a description of theissue.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining that thesecond communication is related to the issue includes retrieving, by theprocessor, the identifier for the issue in response to informationprovided by the customer.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the thirdobject stores data on a third communication with the customer forfulfilling the commitment.
 12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:identifying, by the processor, a fourth communication associated withthe customer; determining, by the processor, that the fourthcommunication is related to the issue; in response to the determining,displaying by the processor, a chronological string of the first,second, and third object stored in association with the issue.
 13. Asystem for managing commitments, comprising: processor; and memory,wherein the memory has instructions stored thereon that, when executedby the processor, cause the processor to: identify a first communicationbetween a customer and a first contact center resource; generate a firstobject for storing data related to the first communication; store thefirst object in a database in association with an issue, wherein theissue has at least an identifier, and the issue is one from among aplurality of issues associated with the customer; identify a secondcommunication associated with the customer; route the secondcommunication to a second contact center resource; determining, by theprocessor, that the second communication is related to the issue; inresponse to the determining, display by the processor, on a graphicaluser interface associated with the second contact center resource, agraphical representation of the first object stored in association withthe issue; receive via the graphical user interface, user selection ofthe first object; in response to the user selection, output the datastored in association with the first object, wherein the data includes acopy of at least a portion of substance of communication exchangedduring the first communication; generate a second object for storingdata relating to the second communication; store the second object inthe database in association with the issue; assigning a commitment madeduring the second communication to a first agent, the commitment beingone among a plurality of commitments associated with the issue; detectunavailability of the first agent to fulfill the commitment; in responseto detecting the unavailability of the first agent, assign thecommitment to a second agent identified as being available and having askill level for fulfilling the commitment; monitor fulfillment of thecommitment; receive status of the commitment, the status beingindicative of fulfillment of the commitment; and in response todetermining that no other commitments of the plurality of commitmentsassociated with the issue remain to be fulfilled, store in the databasefor the issue, an indicator for indicating that the issue is resolved.14. The system of claim 13, wherein the commitment is a commitment totake action made to the customer during the second communication. 15.The system of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause theprocessor to transmit notification to a third contact center resource tofulfill the commitment.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein theinstructions further cause the processor to assign the commitment to athird contact center agent based at least one of a skill level of thethird contact center resource or operational state of the third contactresource.
 17. The system of claim 13, wherein the instructions furthercause the processor to: receive information on a target resourcespecified by the second contact center resource for receiving thecommitment; identify a particular state of the specified targetresource; and assign the commitment to a third contact center resourceinstead of the specified target resource in response to identifying theparticular state.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the third contactcenter resource is identified based on skill and availability of thesecond contact center resource.
 19. The system of claim 13, wherein thefirst communication utilizes a first type of media and the secondcommunication utilizes a second type of media different from the firsttype of media.